Review Index Page 15

Samsung tempted value-oriented enthusiasts in December with its 'V-NAND'-based 850 Evo series. Equipped with 3D TLC NAND, which allows Samsung to stack layer upon layer of transistors, the design improved density, endurance, performance and lowered production costs. Today we have two similarly new drives that focus on different form factors. The mSATA version will appeal to compact PC users, while the M.2 will be more sought after by power users.

Battlefield Hardline showed superb graphics and smooth gameplay when we benchmarked it during last month's week-long public beta, and while the good news was that the game could be played on fairly modest hardware, it didn't quite display Battlefield 4's wow-factor. Developed by Visceral Games, the retail version Hardline is now available and we are back to rerun all the beta tests along with others to see how the frame rates have changed from beta to retail.

HTC's signature metal body makes a repeated appearance on the new One M9 and it looks absolutely fantastic. The two-tone, two-finish design adds an extra bit of flare to the well-crafted, premium build, making this phone one of the most attractive on the market today. But where does One M9 fall short and where is it better than the competition?

While they may be entering the market second with their version of the technology, AMD has laid the groundwork with FreeSync for the ideal adaptive sync standard going forward. The company has delivered on their promises to create a cheaper, more flexible, open standard for variable refresh. We go through some of the main differences with Nvidia's G-Sync, our impressions gaming on a FreeSync monitor, and OEMs crucial role for FreeSync to reach its full potential.

The GeForce Titan X is a processing powerhorse, with its GM200 chip carrying 6 graphics processing clusters, 24 streaming multiprocessors with 3072 CUDA cores. Combined with six 64-bit memory controllers for a total 12GB of GDDR5 memory clocked at 7GHz, that's 50% more cores and memory bandwidth than today's single-GPU king, the GeForce GTX 980. Needless to say, we're eager to see what the new Titan X is capable of.

If you play city-building games to, well, build cities, this is the best you can get. Never before have I felt like I could just walk up to an enormous tract of land, open up some tools and just... build whatever I wanted, however I wanted. Cities: Skylines is a gorgeous video game.

The BitFenix Aegis delivers on design, with internals that are unique yet functional and externals that are eye-catching but not excessive. Despite being a 43L mATX case, the Aegis holds huge hardware, especially when it comes to cooling.

Designed for high-end gaming, the Alienware 15 packs powerful hardware rivalling decent gaming desktops, including flagship mobile GPUs from both AMD and Nvidia. And like other Alienware machines, the 15 is highly customizable, with pricing ranging from $1,200 up to $2,700 depending on the hardware inside.

Mid-towers are by far the most popular case form factor, supporting most full-sized hardware including the ever abundant ATX motherboards and power supplies, while typically costing only $50 to $75. In most situations, anything in that range will be adequate for a standard build, but Silverstone, Corsair and In Win have launched new contenders that are said to deliver the build quality, design, features and performance of pricier models without breaking the bank.

Following its original release in 1999 and a successful sequel in 2003, it's been too long since we've heard about the Homeworld series. Although fans haven't been lucky enough to receive a brand new game, they are now able to relive the magic at high resolutions with a full graphical makeover. The remastered versions have high-res textures and models, new visual effects, recreated cinematic scenes, and support for HD, Ultra HD and 4K resolutions.

The new Dell Venue 8 arrives to the market with a unique form factor and a chassis that's thinner than any other tablet in the world. Running Android OS and powered by Intel's Atom Z3580 quad-core processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 16GB of flash memory, this is arguably one of the best looking tablets currently on the market.

I have long relied on desktop speakers when playing games. Now that I am a father, however, those speakers are too loud for me to enjoy the combined 500 Watts RMS of 5.1 audio. Having only ever bought relatively cheap headsets with proportionally cheap audio quality, it seems about time for me to upgrade. In the process of settling on a new headset, I've acquired six sub-$100 gaming-oriented models from separate hardware manufacturers to compare in a roundup.

The ideal Windows laptop is very hard to find but the new XPS 13 ticks most boxes. It has a 13-inch display with a very slim bezel, the aluminium shell with a carbon fibre-style interior looks pretty darn good, there's a new Intel Broadwell Core i5 under the hood, and battery life is rated at up to 15 hours. The XPS 13 is a return to form for Dell in a big way.

Just when we were starting to think that the Sugo series lost its Mini-ITX mojo, after the last couple of models moved to MicroATX, Silverstone has stepped forward with the itty bitty 11.5L SG13. The thirteenth Sugo isn't quite the smallest to date, but it may be the most capable. Its 11.5L body is said to be capable of housing a standard ATX power supply up to 150mm long, a 120/140mm radiator and a 10.5" dual-slot graphics card.

We've been eagerly anticipating more games based on the latest CryEngine build and now that wait is over: after being delayed from its original October 2014 release date, Evolve has launched this week on PC, Xbox One and PS4. Developed by Turtle Rock Studios (creator of Left 4 Dead), Evolve is the company's latest squad-based co-op shooter and unsurprisingly, it calls for some fairly beefy hardware.

Rather than completely dropping last year's Alpha design, Samsung reworked it for a new and much more compelling product for the mid-range market. The Galaxy A5 is a $400 smartphone inside a $700 body.

These days you might expect buying a new processor to be fairly straightforward. The choice seems clear: Intel has proven to offer superior core performance with considerably greater efficiency. However, many enthusiasts argue that AMD offers better overclocking on its more affordable processors and therefore delivers a better bang for your buck. We put that notion to the test.

Battlefield Hardline is scheduled to arrive on March 17 but starting this week you can get your frag on for free during EA's open beta phase, which should hopefully help avoid a repeat of the launch issues that plagued Battlefield 4. While the Battlefield Hardline beta will be available to gamers on all platforms folks playing on PC can use this performance preview to determine what kind of performance your graphics card will deliver.

Now that low-power Intel Broadwell Core M CPUs are out, Lenovo is back with a refresh of the ThinkPad Helix, their detachable tablet-laptop hybrid. The new Helix offers a similar feature set than its predecessor, but Lenovo claims it's now 15% slimmer and will last several hours longer on battery. It's also over $500 cheaper than the original.

Dying Light takes place in an expansive urban environment where players navigate using free running 'parkour' mechanics while scavenge for supplies to craft weapons and defend against the city's growing infected population. It's the first game built with the Chrome Engine 6, which is a proprietary 3D game engine developed by Techland that was first used over 10 years ago in Speedway Grand Prix and sci-fi shooter Chrome

I wasn't sure what to expect from Dying Light, a new open-world zombie game from a studio known for making the regrettable open-world zombie series Dead Island. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I discovered some cool ideas during my first hours with the game. Dying Light improves aspects of Dead Island's zombie-centric gameplay by adding parkour-style movement into the mix along with other promising features.

Flash-based thumb drives have come a long way, but while a 16GB stick can be purchased with spare change, those who need to move large volumes of data on without spending an arm and a leg have traditionally had to rely on comparatively sluggish USB 3.0 hard drives. Thanks to Samsung, we may finally have an external SSD that delivers blisteringly fast transfers at an affordable price in the form of its new T1 Portable SSD.

Retrofitting an existing home with so-called "Internet of Things" gadgets isn't cheap, but with the right tools you can hack some cloud functionality to your dumb appliances. littleBits is an ever-growing library of small electronic modules that easily connect together. Created by Ayah Bdeir, it started as a tool to help designers incorporate electronics into the prototyping process. Today, it's much more than that. Think of them as Lego bricks for the iPad generation.

With most gamers spending $200 or less on a GPU, the new GeForce GTX 960 is set to take over the so-called value sweet spot, offering a cost-effective way to enjoy high-end games and should appeal to gamers who are preparing for the impending wave of DirectX 12 titles on a budget.

Because they're meant to provide the best bang for your buck, sweet spot GPUs have typically been an affordable way to achieve high-end performance via SLI or Crossfire. Gigabyte sent us a pair of GTX 960s for testing. We have a GTX 960 G1 Gaming card as well as a GTX 960 WindForce 2X.

With the new Alienware 13 you get a gaming-class portable machine with the added benefit of connecting the Graphics Amplifier. The Amplifier houses a standard desktop GPU and power supply. When it's plugged in, the mobile GPU in the laptop is disabled, and all the graphics power comes from the Amplifier, improving graphics performance substantially.

The phablet market isn't just the iPhone 6 Plus or the Galaxy Note line. While they get a ton of attention from the media and marketing departments, there are plenty of other options available. One such option is Huawei's Ascend Mate 7, a six-inch handset that is full of surprises and certainly worth more attention than it gets.

Since launching its first mechanical gaming keyboard, Cougar has continued releasing PC gaming devices ranging from the ultra affordable to the relatively expensive. On the upper end of things, Cougar's flagship 700K fetches $150, but for folks who can't quite justify the price Cougar has developed the 600K we have in house for review. Along for the ride is Cougar's 600M gaming mouse, which is surprisingly well-equipped for $60.

Samsung isn't afraid to experiment with new concepts. Their latest is adding a curved AMOLED display on their flagship large-screened smartphone. They call this device the Galaxy Note Edge, and it's one of the more interesting devices released in 2014. It's a prototype device, but one that Samsung has put on the market to tempt consumers.

Helping to build anticipation for the 850 Evo was the SSD 850 Pro, remaining to this day the fastest 2.5" SSD money can buy. The good news is the 850 Evo shares many of the same technologies found in the 850 Pro, however by using TLC V-NAND the 850 Evo is much more cost effective.